Miguel St. Michael

Luis Miguel Ramirez always had a north star in life. From an early age, he knew he wanted to model his future around the life of the Queen of Tejano: Selena Quintanilla.

“She was just a role model for me of where I wanted to kind of take my life. She was like the blueprint,” he said.

Growing up in a Mexican-American household in Texas, Ramirez was surrounded by both English and Spanish speakers, but he hadn't learned Spanish by the time he got to high school. To communicate with his abuela, who only spoke Spanish, Ramirez followed Selena’s footsteps and learned Spanish through music.

“I remember when I graduated from high school, we were having dinner at my graduation, and I'm talking to my grandmother in Spanish, and she was just super impressed,” he said. “She was like, where did this come from?”

Many years later, Selena continued to inspire him to craft a curriculum that would make learning Spanish fun and engaging for his high school class. Ramirez built his masters thesis at the University of Salamanca in Spain around that curriculum. But Selena’s reach is limited in Europe, and convincing his advisers in Spain to let him base his curriculum on the Tejano singer wasn’t easy.

“For [my adviser] it was more like ‘Oh, she can motivate the language learner in the classroom.’ And that really got him to kind of see, OK, she has this great body of work,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said the curriculum helped motivate his students, particularly the ones that hadn't engaged with his class before he introduced Selena in lessons. Outside of the classroom, Ramirez has used Selena’s career as a muse in his own musical career, first as the frontman of Son de Rey, and now as his musical alter ego Miguel St. Michael.

“I think Selena was just the first kind of spark to kind of push me to go see what was out there,” he said.

Throughout his musical career, he has performed in Selena inspired outfits, and he regularly covers some of her biggest hits.

“I'm very inspired to create my own pieces and whatnot because of what I learned from her, because of her style, because she knew how to construct outfits for the stage, different fabrics, different kinds of sequins, rhinestones, things like that to wear.”

Ramirez is performing as Miguel St. Michael at Northwest Hills United Methodist Church on April 12.

Sign up to receive Austin Vida’s monthly Cultura guide at AustinVida.com. - KUT News

The Tejano-Cumbia short film music video from Miguel St. Michael, “Guapito, Divino“, was recently awarded Best Music Video at the Texas Short Film Festival.

“This speaks volumes as a Tejano musician and filmmaker, but it is almost unprecedented as a queer artist,” said Miguel St. Michael.

Also known as Luis Miguel Ramírez, the artist was the former frontman of Son de Rey and has been involved in the Tejano and Latin music industry for over a decade making several appearances at the Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair and The Tejano Explosion opening up for A.B. Quintanilla III & Kumbia All-Stars, Ricardo Castillón, Ruben Ramos, Michael Salgado, La Mafia, among other prominent Tejano artists. - Tejano Nation

El cantautor Miguel St. Michael ha creado La de mala gente, un nuevo himno latino queer, junto al rapero no binario Babiboi y la estrella de Drag Race Cynthia Lee Fontaine. - Shangay

Austin-based queer Mexican-American singer Miguel St. Michael has unveiled his latest single “Guapito, Divino”. Accompanied by a short film style music video inspired by an iconic Juan Gabriel interview, the track’s enchanting rhythms of cumbia celebrate queer Tejano love in all its beauty. - Queerty

From a different take on cumbia to bossa nova and mariachi, Austin artists are performing new music in Austin throughout the month. Meanwhile, Latin artists from outside the city will be in town as part of their summer touring schedule. - KUT 90.5

UMLAUF After Dark: PRIDE
The UMLAUF Sculpture Garden and Museum will offer a special night of LGBTQ+ celebration from 6-8 p.m. on June 6. For a $12 admission ticket, attendees can enjoy a poetry reading from Christia Madacsi, musical performance from Miguel St. Michael, local vendors such as Las Ofrendas and Sunshine Dimension and all-night beer, wine, cocktails and food. - Austin American Statesmen

Featuring a colorful plethora of Latin, pop, and rock rhythms with a 90s twist, our Still Austin Whiskey Co Music Monday guest, Miguel St. Michael, explores queer love, dating, & spirituality in his debut solo album "Entre Luces." Today we get to see and hear the debut single from that album, “No Soy Lorenzo,” which narrates the thrill and frustration of dating apps, and one major mishap along the way. - We Are Austin

In his latest release “Guapito, Divino,” Miguel St. Michael continues to push cultural boundaries in Latin music by crafting a queer Tejano romance sparked by cumbia’s allure. The new single captivates audiences with its unique fusion of traditional cumbia rhythms, modern club beats, and a fresh perspective on love.

In his lyrics, Miguel St. Michael writes a tale of attraction provoked by infectious beats of cumbia, despite one’s self-awareness of being “Guapito” and “Divino,” inspired by the words said by Juan Gabriel in his infamous interview with Fernando Del Rincón. “If you feel that cumbia rhythm running through your body and can convey that passion on the dance floor -that to me is sexy. This is what ‘Guapito, Divino’ is all about.” - Enchúfate

Breakout artist Miguel St. Michael discusses the origins of writing the techno house cumbia and the importance of queer Latinx representation in the Mexican regional genre - Tejano Nation

«No soy Lorenzo» es una canción Pop Latino, en la que podemos escuchar una pista de sonidos espaciales y electrónicos, los cuales nos remontan al Pop de los 90’s, en la cual se resaltan algunas notas de agudas para agregar un poco más de texturas, los cuales logran complementarse con una guitarra eléctrica de tonalidades graves para dar profundidad a la composición. - Bravo Revista

Today we’d like to introduce you to Miguel St. Michael.

Hi Miguel, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley, I was able to fully experience the contrasting cultures of my Mexican-American heritage. My dad really exposed me to such a plethora of music, from Disco, Pop, and R&B to Cumbia, Tejano, and Norteño standards. - Voyage Austin

«Él Es Todo» es una canción espiritual en donde sonidos Pop de guitarras y percusiones crean un tema para reflexionar y para entrar en un estado introspectivo, temas como la fe, la reflexión y el amor complementan este tema, que es como una balada con toques Rock. - Bravo Revista

"Guapito, Divino" se erige como una contagiosa canción de Pop Latino que desde los primeros compases invita irresistiblemente al baile. La riqueza de su instrumentación, donde la batería marca el ritmo con energía, la trompeta agrega brillo, las maracas y percusiones aportan dinamismo, y la guitarra se suma con su estilo característico, se amalgama para crear un ritmo vibrante y festivo. La voz, con su estilo, se convierte en el complemento perfecto para la propuesta musical, inyectándole la dosis justa de energía y vitalidad. - Bravo Revista